Koran Dunbar reflects on his career as a filmmaker

This time last year, Koran Dunbar was wrapping up production on his first feature-length film, “Greencastle.” It may have marked the end of his work on the film, but in many ways, Dunbar's experience as a filmmaker and artist was just beginning.

This time last year, Koran Dunbar was wrapping up production on his first feature-length film, "Greencastle." It may have marked the end of his work on the film, but in many ways, Dunbar's experience as a filmmaker and artist was just beginning.

The director, writer, producer and main actor of "Greencastle," Dunbar spent much of this past year promoting his film. It premiered locally in March at the Maryland Theatre and has played at more than 40 film festivals since then, including ones in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

The movie was filmed in Greencastle, where Dunbar grew up and went to high school. The "lightly salted, spiritual drama" focuses on a single father in denial about his wife's death.

The film was honored with several "Official Selection" nominations at festivals including the Central Florida Film Festival, the World Music and Independent Film Festival in DC and the Action on Film Festival in California. It was named "Best Feature Film" at the Indie Gathering International Film Festival in Hudson, Ohio.

Dunbar himself was nominated for acting and directing awards at several of the festivals, and he took home the "Best Actor" award at the World Music and Independent Film Festival in August.

The film was supposed to premiere in Greencastle this month, but was delayed due to renovations at the high school. It has been rescheduled for Feb. 9, 2013, and all previously purchased tickets will be honored at the showing.

As satisfying as the awards and accolades can be, the true markers of success for the novice filmmaker are the lessons he's learned this past year about the subjective definition of success and the sacrifices one must make in order to pursue a dream.

Life lessons

For Dunbar, experiencing the journey of making and marketing a film, from writing the script to accepting the awards, gave him a wellspring of material for something else on his agenda list — speaking to high school and college students about how he's overcome his own challenges to fulfill a lifelong dream.

Dunbar gave the keynote speech at this year's graduation ceremony at Manito, a non-profit alternative education organization in Chambersburg. It was an odd sort of homecoming for the 30-year-old - Dunbar spent some time himself at Manito as a high school student.

"There's one way of thinking and teaching, and I just happened to be a kid that didn't learn the way other people learned," he said, referring to the root of some behavioral problems as a student that caused his assignment to the alternative school.

"I know when you go to Manito, some may see you as a reject," he said. "I don't think people at Manito are unintelligent."

Dunbar explained he thinks students too often become "pigeonholed, especially ... in the education system."

Page 2 of 3 - "Teenagers are very intuitive," Dunbar added. "They can tell when a teacher does not think they're going to go far in life."

But it was a teacher at Manito that made Dunbar think twice about his behavior.

"I remember I was goofing off in class and she kind of embarrassed me. She pulled me aside and said 'I see that card you're trying to play. Don't fall in that category,'" Dunbar said.

"That was one of the first times a teacher came out and said 'Koran, you're not an idiot.'"

Dunbar also credits his TV Productions teacher at Greencastle-Antrim High School for further nurturing his interest and talents in film production. Dunbar was the first high school student to intern at NBC25 in Hagerstown, opening the door for future G-AHS students to take advantage of the opportunity.

Father and son

Dunbar also talks of the many sacrifices he and his family had to make while producing the film.

"When you win these awards, no one ever congratulates your family," Dunbar said. "But they're the ones that don't see you because you're working, you're not going to bed until 4 in the morning, you're always on the road."

"It strained great relationships I had before going into the film," he said. "Some of them are stronger now. Some of them have been tested and some of them aren't the same."

One prominent relationship central to both the film's plot and its production was that of Dunbar and his 10-year-old son, Aurelius. Dunbar cast his real-life son as the on-screen son of his character after watching Aurelius practice lines one day.

"I didn't want him in the film in the beginning," Dunbar said. "But he secretly got a script and memorized lines with his mother."

Dunbar explained that it was a difficult line to walk between father and director. The pace and intensity of production "took a toll" on his son, but Dunbar said Aurelius was a source of determination for him, too.

Dunbar recalled one day, after a particularly disheartening trip to New York City for some acting lessons, it was Aurelius who stepped in with words of encouragement.